"Many Regret Not Leaving When They Had The Chance".

[KittyWampus]

a CNN reporter on the scene just gave a very good picture of what's happening. If thread title isn't 100% word for word, it's damned close and accurate as far as meaning goes. She's did a great job. No sensationalism and very clear as to magnitude.

Many people COULD have left but didn't. So this isn't completely a matter of poor people with no means to leave.

I live in a hurricane/nor' easter prone area and know people who think evacuating is for sissies. And then you've got people who said, "nothing happened last time why go now".

Woman reporter emphasised problem at Super Dome several times.

She mentioned people doing good deeds for one another several times.

She also mentioned non-sensationally 2 incidents of looting non-essential goods, one was a guy in a boat taking what he could get.

[SteppingRazor]

1. I didn't leave when Katrina hit Florida...

but that's Cat 1 versus Cat 4.

Last year, when a Cat 3 headed our way, I boarded up the pace, but I still didn't leave. It would proobably take a Cat 5 for me to actually evacuate.

So, I understand the mentality of not wanting to leave. I mean, it's your home, after all.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. I'll bet it was Jean Meserve

She's done the best reporting yet from the area

[flamingyouth]

3. Aaron Brown had her by phone last night.

She started to cry when talking about the devastation she and the crew had seen.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. I was listening to that

[KittyWampus]

4. Yes, It Was Her. Heaven Willing, They'll Give Her More Opportunities

after this.

[OKNancy]

9. It was, she is wonderful

She also said, that she doesn't know how she is going to get out. She also said that she is thankful she is fully immunized because of her travels as a reporter, but she is really worried about the people of New Orleans who have to get in the filthy water.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. We're going to have serious diseases as a result

I wouldn't doubt if cholera makes a debut in the US

[petronius]

18. Just to be a bit pedantic:

Cholera returned to the Gulf Coast a few decades ago, and has been present in LA ever since.

From Louisiana's Office of Public Health:

"Common sources of infection in areas of pandemic cholera are:

Drinking water contaminated at its source or during storage, ice made from contaminated water.

Food contaminated during or after preparation

Seafood, particularly shellfish taken from contaminated waters

Vegetables and fruits eaten raw, cultivated on contaminated grounds or irrigated with contaminated
water or “freshened’ with contaminated water.

Vibrio cholerae in Louisiana:
Currently, most cases of cholera in the Louisiana are acquired through eating seafood from the Gulf Coast
or through foreign travel. A particular strain of V cholerae O1 strain (biotype El Tor, serotype Inaba) has
become endemic in the Gulf waters. It can be found in surface water or sewage. Domestically acquired
cholera has been associated with consumption of shellfish. There is no endemic of V. cholerae O139 in
the USA."

So you are probably right - increased occurence of disease in the next few moths will be an (under-reported) secondary impact.

[rbjensen]

5. I've had to make the decision whether to stay or not

but never higher than Cat 3. It is hard, because once you leave you can't get back until they let you. But I don't think I'd hang around for a 4 or 5.

[graywarrior]

6. It was Jeanne Meserve.

[seabeyond]

7. hindsight. i bet they are. now, this is where they are at, time

to take care of them. all of us have made mistakes. no beating self up, just help them. i am so opposed to they should have done. ship sailed

[KittyWampus]

8. please know, I agree with you. It's time for military to get these people

out of the area one way or other.

I hope they're not planning on waiting till the Army Corps Engineers can fix the breaches.

[seabeyond]

10. me too. i am now wanting massive evaculation.

before a big oooops, or bigger oops

[KayLaw]

13. After Andrew. . .

people were evacuating too much and authorities were stressing home preparation instead of instantly fleeing. Evacuation can cause problems, too. I'm not the type to mindlessly obey the government but all this flooding has me thinking about what I'll do next hurricane.

For Charley, we were told to evacuate but didn't because the people right across the street didn't have to. They are in a "D" zone and were are a "C". Must be right at some planners line.

[rodeodance]

14. Homeland security was suspose to be prepared for this sort of thing

but they were not. simple as that.

[KittyWampus]

16. KayLaw, If This Causes Some People To Reconsider

evacuating or reassessing their game plan... then at least that's some meager amount of comfort.

[patdem]

15. The same people who hate Democrats for Monday morn quarterbacking

in Iraq..when the Adminstration has a budget of millions of dollars for people to analyze and suggest..will say these people deserve what they get..cause they 'shoulda left'...:grr:

[Spike from MN]

17. I saw an interview yesterday where they were talking to

one of the guys lined up to get into the dome (the day before, obviously). He had loaded up the car and tried to get out but the freeway was so packed that he wasn't getting anywhere so he ended up going to the dome instead. I had heard that prior to the storm hitting, they didn't change the directions on the freeways so that all roads headed out. Not sure if that's true or not but if it is, why the heck didn't they do that? Seems to me that's pretty much SOP for something like this.

I also read somewhere that 80% of NO had been evacuated before the storm. They cited the population as being 485,000 so that would leave approximately 97,000 that didn't evacuate. With 10,000 in the dome, that leaves roughly 87,000 scattered out there somewhere waiting to be rescued. I REALLY hope these numbers are wrong so if anyone comes across numbers that say anything different, please feel free to correct me.

This is just so awful. I can't even imagine what it must be like for the people going through this. I really hope they can get some sort of massive rescue mission going to get the people out of there before conditions deteriorate even further. What a horrible mess.